SANAA, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Costal Guard forces on Sunday captured 14 Somali pirates off the country's island of Socotra in the Gulf of Aden, the defense ministry said.

"The Yemeni Coastal Guard forces captured 14 Somali pirates off Socotra Island early on Sunday and have transferred them to security authorities for investigation," the ministry said in a brief statement on its website.

On April 19, the Yemeni interior ministry said that a Spanish warship helped release nine Yemeni fishermen who were captured by Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea.

In November, 2011, a Yemeni criminal court sentenced 10 Somalis to 10 years in prison after convicting them of piracy in Yemen's territorial waters, according to the state-run Saba news agency.

The Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Aden, well-known pirate- infested waters between Yemen and Somalia, is the main route for about 25,000 ships every year.